# Stage plays that feature nudity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193 "2009-12-14T05:30:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/41 "2009-12-14T20:00:36Z")
I have seen a few, but for the life of me the only title I remember was Trainspotting. As a side note, Puppetry of the Penis toured to a venue where I knew the lighting technician. When she was focusing the lights the guy directing the focus whipped off his pants so she could get the right shutter cuts. She is a very outgoing girl, but that threw her for a loop. (The funnier version involes discussing hard edges and adjusting barrels and other dirty, dirty lighting talk that really only makes sence if you know how to focus stage lighting.) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/42 "2009-12-14T20:13:40Z")
**Tales from Hollywood** by Christopher Hampton. It’s about the German exiles in Hollywood during WWII. In one scene, the neglected wife of a producer walks into a party stark naked. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/43 "2009-12-14T21:13:57Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I also saw a Tennessee Williams play, Vieux Carre, off Broadway this year that had male nudity during a rape scene. ## Don Johnson’s professional stage debut involved getting raped on stage each night by Sal Mineo, both of them nude. I think later they were in a play together as well.😛 But seriously folks… the play was _Fortune and Men’s Eyes_, one of the first plays to deal with prison rape. It was later a movie but with a different cast. I won’t link, but googling sal mineo don johnson yields both nude and semi-nude images of an in-his-prime Johnson and ‘at the end of his career (due to his murder at a young age)’ Mineo, who was IIRC openly gay by this time and briefly lived with Johnson, sparking rumors about a relationship between the two. The Sam Mendes revamp of _Cabaret_ ends Act I with the emcee mooning the audience with a swastika painted on one of his cheeks. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/44 "2009-12-14T21:30:46Z")
> [@There\_is\_no\_God](#): > > _The Elephant Man:_ Mrs. Kendal is nude, although she is generally placed with her back to the audience. I believe in some productions Merrick himself is nude when being examined before the doctors (as he was in real life). For those not familiar with this play, the actor performing Merrick does not use make-up or prostheses of any kind; his horrible deformities are continually referred to and some photographs of the real Merrick are shown, but the actor does not attempt to look like him in any way other than in the way he walks and stands. The David Lynch film of the same name appeared shortly after the play became a hit on Broadway, but is I believe unconnected in all but subject matter. Bernard Pomerance (the playwright) isn’t mentioned in the movie. No idea if this caused lawsuits. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/45 "2009-12-14T21:33:43Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I believe in some productions Merrick himself is nude when being examined before the doctors (as he was in real life). For those not familiar with this play, the actor performing Merrick does not use make-up or prostheses of any kind; his horrible deformities are continually referred to and some photographs of the real Merrick are shown, but the actor does not attempt to look like him in any way other than in the way he walks and stands. That’s interesting. I just assumed he would use prostheses–any reason why he doesn’t? Because it would make the play over the top or kind of silly when it’s not meant to be a “look at the freak” experience? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/46 "2009-12-14T21:35:08Z")
Here’s a[loinclothed but non-nude pic](http://www.sfasu.edu/pubaffairs/images/2-09images/10-elephant_l.jpg)from a college production of The Elephant Man that’ll give you an idea of how his illness is conveyed. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/47 "2009-12-14T21:47:57Z")
Robert Lepage’s La géométrie des miracles (Geometry of Miracles) is awash with male nudity. The lead actor played, if memory serves, three different parts (and had to speak English, French and Russian). He also spent the first ten minutes of the play starkers. I also recall that the entire play was multi-subtitled, with the lines shown on the wall behind the action. I suppose you could say the play is about Wright and Gurdjieff, but that’s like saying computers are about a black box with a screen. I’ve seen the play described as half-baked, but I enjoyed it. Lepage is good even when he’s showing off with languages and hi-tech. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/48 "2009-12-14T21:53:30Z")
I worked on a production called “The Credeaux Canvas” that features both male and female complete nudity for long periods of stage time. No quick flashes in that show. Produced in a 90-seat black box, too - you could just about reach out and grab some, if you were so inclined… ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/49 "2009-12-14T22:39:38Z")
I went to a showing of “Angels in America” where one of the characters had a fully exposed penis. Not full nude, though, so I’m not sure if it counts. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/50 "2009-12-14T23:36:18Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > There was the play where Nicole Kidman was starkers from behind…there was much buzz about the quality of her…assets. We call this backal nudity. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/51 "2009-12-14T23:51:52Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > We call this backal nudity. This description gets my endorsal. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/52 "2009-12-15T01:27:21Z")
[Steaming](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steaming_%28play%29). Almost all the actors (from memory it was an all-female cast) were naked almost all of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/53 "2009-12-15T03:44:01Z")
> [@StoutHearted](#): > > _Spring Awakening_ has full nudity, but not consistently. I met some members of the crew who told me that it was up to the actors in the moment whether they would fully disrobe at each performance or not. What? When? The Broadway version did not have full nudity, all that was shown was part of the two character’s butts and maybe the girl’s breasts. There was certainly no full nudity. Is it different on the tour? Another play that has full nudity is **[What The Butler Saw](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Butler_Saw_(play))**. Among those who have gone the full monty in that show are Raul Esparza and David Tennant. I think there was nudity in \*\*Love! Valour! Compassion! \*\*I know there was in the film version. Anthony Perkins had a nude scene in the play **[Romantic Comedy](http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3817)**. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/54 "2009-12-15T05:52:43Z")
Will Roger’s Follies had a topless showgirl ---
**Author:** ![valleyofthedolls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/55 "2009-12-15T08:59:55Z")
Orpheus Descending, or at least the production I saw. IIRC, both Kevin Williamson and Vanessa Redgrave were naked in different sections of the play ---
**Author:** ![valleyofthedolls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193/56 "2009-12-15T17:14:27Z")
One more. The second part of Coast of Utopia, Voyage has a tableau very similar to Manet’s Dejeuners sur l’herbe. Natalie Herzen (Jennifer Ehle) is naked throughout the scene. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stage-plays-that-feature-nudity/521193.md?page=2)